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The Strength to Stand

Have you ever faced circumstances so overwhelming that you wondered how you would stand up under them?

At times, we all have feelings of weakness. Though none of us enjoy those experiences, periods of powerlessness and vulnerability are not necessarily negative. Weakness can have detrimental results, like self-pity, despair or sin. It can also be beneficial by driving us to dependency upon God. One such situation that often causes fear and discouragement is a satanic attack - a willful, determined assault by the Devil for the purpose of harming your spirit, soul or body.

Powerful Adversary
Satan is not omnipotent, but he is nonetheless a very powerful adversary; however, God does not leave us to fend for ourselves and He wants us to understand His supernatural and unlimited ability to help us. That is why Ephesians 6:10 tells us to "be strong in the Lord and the power of His might."

When you trusted Jesus as your Savior, the Holy Spirit came to indwell in you, which means that living on the inside of you, is a member of the Trinity who has supernatural power - power greater than Satan's - to enable you to stand firm. The same divine power that created the heavens and the earth, calmed the ocean, and raised the dead is available to every believer through the Lord Jesus Christ and is absolutely essential during spiritual attacks.

Stand Firm
The Bible tells us to "stand firm and resist the Devil" (Ephesians 6:10; James 4:7). It does not say, "Arm yourself and go fight him" for the simple reason that the battle for our salvation has already been won at the Cross. Once you are God's, you are eternally secure - Satan cannot have your spirit, soul or eternal life (John 10:28-30).

But his goal is to thwart the Lord's plan for you and he can do a significant amount of damage. He is out to steal your peace and joy, cause confusion and anger, and encourage wrong relationships in your life. He will do anything he can to cheat you out of the blessings the Lord has promised. And the holier you attempt to live before God, the stronger the attacks are likely to be. What Satan is after, is your testimony - he wants to ruin your witness and make you as ineffective as possible.

Would you say that you are walking in obedience to God? If not, the reason may be that you have yielded to some satanic attack. Have you believed the Devil's lie and given yourself over to him in some way? What may have seemed like an innocent temptation at first can eventually exert a vise-like grip on you.

God wants Christians to be under His control, but the Enemy ultimately wants you under his influence and he will do his best to destroy everything good in your life.  Satan's objectives are very clear. Namely, he tries to draw believers away from the Lord and prevent God from receiving the glory He deserves. As long as the Devil is around, we will suffer his assaults, so the question is not how to avoid satanic attacks, but how to overcome them.

How to Overcome Satanic Attacks
Paul lays out the battle plan in the sixth chapter of Ephesians:

• First, we must identify the enemy.
• Secondly, we are to dress in the full armor of God and stand firm.

The key to withstanding Satan's onslaughts is to appropriate the strength of the living God. How do we get His power into our life, to be unleashed in any and every circumstance? There is only one way: by prayer.

It is through prayer that the Lord releases His energy, divine power and protection, enabling us to live a godly, holy and peaceful life regardless of our circumstances. It is only through prayer that our mind and spirit can discern what the natural person cannot detect. Only through prayer can we sense forewarnings of Satan's attacks, which can be aimed anywhere: finances, family, relationships or health.

The one thing Satan hates above all else is the believer who knows how to persist in prayer and claim the promises of God.  The Enemy has no defense against persevering prayer which crushes his might and sends him running. On the other hand, when we do not pray, we set ourselves up for defeat by the Devil.

Power of Prayer
We have His power available to us, and yet we often fail to stand firmly against satanic attacks. Since our Enemy knows the power of prayer, he will use distractions to divert our minds onto anything but prayer. He will do everything possible to keep us from spending time in communion with our heavenly Father. Satan wants us too busy to talk to the One who loves us always, knows everything and desires to defend us in any situation.

Our heavenly Father sees the whole combat zone that you and I live in daily. He knows where we are in the battlefield as well as the nature of our weaknesses. He is also aware of what Satan is doing in our life - every cunning device, exactly where he will attack and what he will use to defeat us.

If you are prayerless, if you don't cry out for God's divine direction and guidance and if you don't put on His armor by faith every day, the Enemy can easily influence you. As Paul knew, prayer is essential in protecting us against the Devil's schemes - its importance cannot be overemphasized. Your understanding of Scripture will be in direct proportion to your prayer. Likewise, the holiness of your life and usefulness to almighty God are also proportional to your communication with Him.

It is critical that we realize praying is not simply, "Lord, bless me, bless him, bless her. Give me this, give me that." Serious praying is talking to your heavenly Father, who listens and desires to answer. Prayer is about humbling yourself and acknowledging, not only your need, but also His presence, His holiness and His righteousness. The source of our strength is the living God and His power is channeled into our life primarily when we listen and talk with Him.

Understanding exactly what it takes to release God's awesome power, Paul writes, "With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit…" (Ephesians 6:18). By "all prayer" he is referring to prayer in general, that is, requests, thanksgiving, praise and intercession, all of which are important.

Next, he uses the word "petition" which speaks of a particular, singular request. God displays His power through prayer when we ask for something specific and He does exactly what we requested. But if we are praying only, "Bless me, bless this, bless that," how can we know whether God has answered?

Praying Withoug Ceasing
Paul also talks about praying at all times. We are most vulnerable to satanic attacks when we are not praying. Satan arranges a sequence of events in your life and mine to defeat us. He wants to get you too busy, distracted or negligent to pray. He knows that once you are prayerless, you will soon become concerned and worried - burdens will become heavier and you will feel discouraged and weary. Eventually, you will feel emotionally, spiritually and physically weak. When you lower your guard, the Devil will attack. You simply cannot afford to be prayerless!

First Thessalonians 5:17 gives us further instruction with three powerful words: "pray without ceasing." How can we pray at all times? What this expression means is living in God consciousness.

Think in terms of a telephone. If you hang up, the call is disconnected. "Praying without ceasing" means you do not hang up - you continuously stay on line with God. That is how He intends for us to live. So if I meet somebody I have been praying for and something good has happened in his life, I will say, "Thank You, God, for what You did for him." If I see something evil going on, I will say, "God I am trusting You to correct this situation." The truth is, we should be able to talk to the Father specifically all the time. "Praying always," means living in communion with God, in constant awareness of His presence.

Get Down on Your Knees
There is only one way we can be strong enough to withstand the counterfeits and traps of the Devil: we must have a relationship in which God is always speaking to our heart and we are always talking to Him in return.

You and I cannot be discerning as we ought unless we are praying as we ought. Satan wants you to think there are times you do not need God - he hates it when you are on your knees. But God is omnipresent and always available. When you are driving down the expressway, what are you thinking about? Why don't you talk to God? When you sit down at your desk, what are you thinking about? You can talk to the Father about everything.

Is your prayer life pitiful or powerful? No one else can put on your spiritual armor for you. If you want God's best in your life, make prayer a constant habit. Divine, supernatural power is available if you will cry out to God and claim it by faith. Your prayers release His power into your life and make it possible for you to stand firm against every onslaught of the Devil.

Related Reading:
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Dr. Charles Stanley is the pastor of First Baptist Church of Atlanta and President of In Touch Ministries. To view more of Dr. Stanley's thoughts, visit the In Touch website by clicking here.